Northfield Charter Commission Chair David Ludescher has long been an opponent of the deal the City made with Big Ten LLC, the developer of the new hotel going in at Hwy 3 and 2nd street. He raised those concerns during his time as Councilor and still contends that it’s against the City’s Charter due to the subsidies they received including the formation of a TIF district. Tax increment financing (TIF) uses the increased property taxes that a new real estate development generates to finance costs of the development. Administrator Ben Martig said this morning, “the Charter doesn’t operate in a vacuum
outside of state statutes, there’s also case law that comes into play as well. So in this case, we work with a City attorney that specializes, he only does municipal work. It’s very complex there’s a lot of different pieces but even in this project, he passed it on to an even more specialized attorney that deals specifically with economic development/redevelopment”. He believes Council went above and beyond their due dilligence. Last week, Ludescher suggested there may be a lawsuit coming the City’s way. On KYMN yesterday he said, “there are some people that would like to join in some sort of effort but, quite frankly, they’re afraid. They’re afraid of what might happen, they’re afraid of their reputation, they’re afraid of maybe blowback from the City so if they have any involvement with the City they’re afraid that it might affect their workings with the City”. The goal of a lawsuit, he says, “is just to keep the Charter as the Charter. If we are not going to follow our Charter we might as well get rid of it”. At last week’s Charter commission meeting, members Lance Heisler and Peter Swift, were not on board with a lawsuit. Heisler questioning whether a lawsuit would have any value at all except as a statement of principle. The vote was tabled. Martig added the hotel project is probably a, ” shining example of quality redevelopment for a City. It meets many of the City visioning goals as it relates to that, increasing the density in the downtown to try and maximize the downtown area, building new tax base, removing some of the blighted and under utilized pieces of the property that were there before. So I think the City should be proud of the project”. Martig and Mayor Pownell and Ludescher interviews are all posted on kymn.net.
Loon Liquors wins again
Local Loon Liquors won a silver medal at the 2017 San Francisco International Spirits Competition. The coffee liqueur that launched it all, Lac Coeur, created by Loon Liquors co-founder Simeon Rossi, received the recognition in April. The company won a silver medal last year with its MetropoliGin. They just opened a patio at their location on Armstrong Road and intend on showing outdoor movies against the backdrop of the industrial building next door.
Woodley work
Concrete Crews have started work to complete the Woodley Street Reconstruction Project in Northfield. They’ll be doing concrete pavement spot repairs and crack sealing. Traffic control will be set up and all repairs are expected to be complete by June 8th.
Dog issues? Take a class
Northfield Community Services is offering a variety of pet manners, obedience and problem-solving dog training classes this summer with instructor, Shahar Fearing, from Four Winds Dog Training. Classes start up on Monday June 5 and spots are still available Call 507.664.3649 to register or visit the website at www.northfieldschools.org
